A National Conference on Campus Sexual Assault at University of California Berkeley has the attention of campus leaders at California State University Monterey Bay.

CSUMB sent two delegates to attend the two-day conference as part of their efforts to combat the issue back on the Monterey Peninsula.

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Sexual assault on college campus has been part of the national conversation for the last few years and keeping the discussion going is the focus of a both conferences like the one at Berkeley, and of students who are trying to make a difference.

Jennifer Harte is CSUMB junior, serves as an Associated Students senator, and sits on the newly founded Associated Students' Sexual Assault Committee.

Hart and fellow student leaders said their mission is to make it OK to talk about sexual assault.

"Multiple people within our close friends group have had experiences, so we want to make sure the discussion is out there, so people aren't afraid to come forward," Harte said.

"It's the most important thing, if we don't talk about it, it's seen as secretive, or that it doesn't happen," Associated Students Vice President Colleen Courtney said.

Courtney said the idea that sexual assaults do not happen at CSUMB simply isn't true.

"Just by asking a couple friends I realize that we've all been in that situation," she said.

In the fall of 2014 Courtney and others decided to form the Sexual Assault Committee and get people talking. She said since then she herself has had a lot more conversations about sexual assault, both with her friends and with students in attendance at the committee's events.

Student advisers on campus said the conversations are working. Anna Bartkowski is the deputy Title IX coordinator for the campus, and she said because sexual assault on campus is up for discussion, more cases of it are coming to light.

"We have actually seen an increase in reports on our campus, a large increase in the last two years in reports, and that's actually a success," she said.

Bartkowski said the increase in reporting is a success because it means students know who to talk to, and it shows they trust the university. She said it is not easy for reporters to come forward if they feel their case will be mishandled, or if they think they will be ostracized from their peer group because of an investigation.

While recent reporting of sexual assaults may be up at CSUMB, the number of campus sexual offenses is down in recent years. In 2011 there were five forcible sexual offenses reported, and in 2012 and 2013 there were four.

Bartkowski said the campus has taken steps in recent years to make sure students come forward when a sexual assault happens, and to let students know, it's not OK.

"Every college campus is grappling with how best to address this issue, I will say that from our top administrators all the way down to our students we work very hard to create an environment which that is not tolerated here," she said.